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Thursday, September 01, 2011

Terribly sad to read the obituary of Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits and Q writer from both magazines' Imperial Phases.
You wonder what the home improvement magazines he wrote for before moving, first to New Music News, and then onto Smash Hits, made of his dry wit. At the Hits, and then in Q's Who The Hell... column, Hibbert softly punctured the pompous and puffed-up by gently measuring out the rope they'd need, and effortlessly passing it over. Besides helping with shaping the voice of the two magazines, Hibbert also had a hand in creating the quiet, raised-eyebrow style of journalism today performed by the likes of Jon Ronson and Louis Theroux.
On a personal note, he gave me many happy mealtimes - on Q day, tea would always be scoffed with that opening interview propped against the sauce bottles. He'd been unable to work through illness for the last fourteen years, a terrible loss to the world of writing; his death on Sunday an even crueller loss to the world.
[Thanks to HungryHatter]

2 comments:

Terribly sad indeed. The Who the Hell columns were such an essential read, and I was continually astounded at how a succession of ridiculously egotistical celebs laid themselves open to his acerbic and withering treatment.

If nothing else, Hibbert may have been the first to alert the world to what a complete tool Ringo Starr actually is, something the man himself unwittingly confirms every time he steps in front of a camera or microphone.

Now, more than ever, I think there is a need to deflate these huge egos: just look at the Twitter output of the likes of Kanye West, P Diddy (or whatever he is called this week) or Paris Hilton if you need convincing. Perhaps subconsciously some of us absorbed that feeling of disdain which Hibbert clearly felt for that type of character and now do our best via Twitter or blogs to at least try to take them down a peg or two. I certainly think that's true of myself and I thank him for it.